jle2234

Did you request an SSN when you applied for immigration?

If so, it will be mailed to you. The delivery time is usually very quick -- I got mine about 1-2 weeks after crossing POE. The Social Security Administration states that, unless there are complications, you should receiving it within three weeks of arriving in the U.S. (https://www.ssa.gov/ssnvisa/Handout_11_1.html).

It's a judgment call but, if you start applying for jobs upon crossing POE, you will most likely have your SSN before any hiring process is complete.

I spent my early 20s working overseas and got to know many U.S. citizens very well. I met my husband, who is a U.S. citizen, through one of my American friends I knew from work. Prior to dating and eventually marrying my husband, I dated another U.S. citizen for two years. These are the only two serious relationships I have ever been in; and, like you, there was a fairly short time between the two relationships. I had not applied for any visa or immigration with my previous relationship.

Nothing about my romantic history or any previous relationships ever came up in my immigration process. Certainly, every case and interview will be different, but they were only interested in my current relationship. I had no issues with my U.S. immigration.

32 minutes ago, angellightboy said:

I also had received a letter dated November 20, 2017 but my case was complete in September and the interview was scheduled (and subsequently approved) on November 22. Really wish they would get their act together as even the redesigned website at state has now many broken links. 

I ended up getting two more copies of the same letter... One to my previous address in Canada and one to my husband's previous address. The strangest thing is that my husband updated his address nearly a year ago, so I'm not even sure how that address is still on their mailing list (considering we also got the letter at the updated address).

My I-130 took over nine months to be approved. You are at about 11 months so, while that is longer than mine took, it doesn't seem abnormally long to me.

USCIS receipt numbers are issued sequentially. You can enter the ones before and after yours to see if any of them have been processed yet.

Before abandoning residency, I would consider visiting the U.S. embassy in Taiwan to discuss your options. While it is likely that your wife will need to abandon her residency, no need to do so if there are other options available to her. At the very least, you may be eligible for direct consular filing for a new GC, since you are both living abroad, which should be faster than the usual process.

Glad to hear that part got sorted it! Good luck on the rest of the process!

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you're having. I have tried to reach someone at the Montreal consulate before and agree it is very frustrating.

I have never heard of Medisys sending things directly to the consulate. I had my interview in September 2017 and still had to pick my results up and bring them with me, so having the report sent directly to the consulate must be very new.

This isn't based on any personal experience but, if I were you, I think I would request that Medisys mail or FAX me a copy of my medical report ASAP. I'd mail it to the consulate along with a written explanation of what happened and a copy of the confirmation from Medisys saying they sent the original directly to the consulate.

I was part of a pilot project with the Montreal consulate and it seemed that communication regarding it left a bit to be desired. If Medisys sending the medical report directly to the consulate is a new procedure, I think it's possible that the consular officers were not all up to speed on the change.

If your wife did not work in the U.S. that year, she will not have a W2. However, every U.S. resident is required to file annual taxes, even if they have no income. I would recommend you bring her tax return/transcript from that year, and any documentation showing foreign and/or non-employment income.

I had my interview in September 2017. My husband's 2016 taxes showed an income greater than what was reflected on his W2 because he had sold stocks that year -- we had not disclosed that when filing for my immigration because there was no place to volunteer the information on any of the forms. Anyways, like you, I was asked to bring my husband's W2 to the interview. I also brought his 1099b and all other income documentation for 2016 to explain the discrepancy between his income listed on his 1044 and the income listed on his W2. There were no issues at the interview.

If you are aware of any sort of issue or discrepancy in your spouse's affidavit of support, tax transcripts, etc., I would advise bringing whatever documentation will explain it... NVC may not know to ask for certain documents if they aren't aware of your specific situation. In my experience, NVC moves forward with the interview having only received tax transcripts and W2s, which does not account for less common forms of income.

5 minutes ago, spa said:

CR1 visa

That's quick!!

Do you know if they are doing this for CR1's still?  Seems like a chicken-and-egg situation to me 

I'm not sure if they are doing it for CR1s or not. If they are, note that you have to email them your confirmed travel plans before they will send your visa. But like I said, after I sent the information, I got my visa back quickly.

What type of visa are you applying for?

I was approved for an IR1 visa and got my passport back three business days after sending my travel information. But that pilot project (where you have to send the travel info via email before getting your passport back) seems to only be for some visas, so your process may be different.

Either way, it sounds like a lot of people these days are getting their visas within one week.

I spent a lot of time in the U.S. before immigrating, and before even beginning the immigration proceedings. The longest single stay I had was 3-4 months. While I have never counted, I'd say it's possible that I neared or exceeded staying 6 months in a single year. It honestly never came up. I never had any trouble crossing POE -- no refusals or withdrawn applications. I also had no issues with my immigration.

It is important to note that, for future crossings in to the U.S., having spent extended periods away from Canada may call in to question the strength of your ties to Canada, making it more difficult to cross POE in the future.

I agree with previous advice that you speak to someone at border services who can clarify details for you.

@Lasallexand others,

Here is the response I received from NVC regarding the mail:

We determined that an instruction package was sent to you incorrectly.  Please disregard this instruction package, and do not attempt to contact the US Embassy or Consulate General indicated in the letter.

8 hours ago, Lasallex said:

I received the same letter aswell also dated November 20th but i just had my visa approved at interview on the 17th so it definitely must be an error. I'll call them too and see what they say. 

Thanks for this information, @Lasallex. I sent them an email a few days ago and will let you know if I hear back.

On 11/24/2017 at 10:08 AM, acidrain said:

Thank you jle2234 for sharing your experience. I go back and forth whether to have my spouse take time off work and drive a U-haul down (I can't drive those things) or just hire a moving company. Atlas is one of the few that service the area I live in. I am so sorry you had so much damage done to your belongings. That's awful. I am astounded at the cost of shipping items from Canada to the US and the lack of moving companies in smaller cities. I realize people need to be compensated for their time. But I was told for our move I think the cheapest we would be looking at is just under $5,000 if we went with a moving company. The one thing I hate about U-Haul though is they do not put winter tires on their trucks in the winter making it a little scary to drive.

 

I will add the one thing that is so important when shipping items cross border is itemizing your shipment. I tried crossing in Jan to adjust status and was denied. But the border officials did say they very much appreciated my organizational skills when it came to declaring our goods. Experienced moving companies will know how to do this but if you ship them down yourself you must provide a list of everything you are taking across.

 

I numbered each box and put in point form exactly what was in that box. I also included loose items that did not fit into boxes. This helps the border determine which boxes if any they need to go through instead of tearing apart your shipment. This also helps them determine if there would be any import fees such as if you had really expensive artwork, alcohol, smokes or unique goods passing through. For the vast majority of us we have goods worth less than $10,000 garage sale value so we don't have to pay anything. They are also doing their usual search for things like food and if you have over $10,000 cash.

 

For instance I wrote:

Box 1 (the box was labeled with a sheet of paper)

- paperback novels

- wine glasses

- XX shoes

That's a great point about organizing your boxes, @acidrain! Even though the shipping company numbered our boxes and made the manifest for us, I still labelled specifically what was in each box (ex. "Kitchen -- Drinking Glasses", "Bedroom -- Linens") to avoid our items being searched by customs. They were not searched.

I'm not sure about other visas, but I was immigrating on an IR1 visa and had no limit as to the value of items I could import without fee. There are a few restrictions; for example, you have to have owned and been using each item abroad for a minimum of one year. I don't think they'd care about things like clothing, but they don't want you buying a brand new living room set and importing it without fee. Here is the customs form for importing unaccompanied (via shipping company) goods, which will give you an idea of the restrictions: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CBP Form 3299.pdf

I applied for my IR-1 in August 2016. I submitted just one application.

As a Canadian, my information was uploaded to NVC after NOA2. I had my interview in September 2017 and was approved without issue. I crossed POA in September 2017, and have already received both my 10-year green card and my SSN.

After receiving NOA2, I never received my package in the mail with my Invoice and Case numbers for NVC upload. My husband and I waited the mandatory 30 days, and then contacted USCIS and received our upload information via email. There were no complications paying, uploading, etc., using the information we received.

Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail from NVC. It was addressed to my U.S. address and titled "Notice of Immigrant Visa Case Creation - You May Begin Online Processing". The letter is dated November 20, 2017. It has my NVC login information and instructions to begin the upload process as if my visa interview and approval had never happened.

Any idea what is going on? Should I contact NVC, or just chalk it up to an administrative error since I already have my green card?

Hi @TS_123,

My husband and I shipped our furniture and belongings from Ontario to NYC in October 2017. There are no import fees when you are a new immigrant or a returning U.S. resident. The charge from the shipping company was approximately $3,500, which was the minimum charge for an international move. I'd estimate that we moved about the equivalent of a one-bedroom apartment worth of belongings.

The process of getting our belongings through customs was easy peasy -- no holds-ups, no fees. Shipping companies deal with this every day, and a proper shipping company will review your customs forms before loading your shipment to ensure they are properly filled out.

A small word of caution: We used Atlas Van Lines and could not have been more disappointed by their service. I would advise using a different shipping company, as we had significant damage to our belongings (more than I would say is reasonable, especially for professional movers) and are still fighting for reimbursement. Total damage exceeded $8,000. Large companies, such as Atlas, use local brokers and movers, and there seems to be little oversight regarding how things are handled. When fairly large reimbursement is owed, you run in to infighting regarding whether the parent company or the local brokerage is responsible for the payment. If you have anything that is of particular importance to you (for example, my husband's action figures were damaged, which he has been collecting since childhood), make sure you pack it extremely well; take photos of its original condition and how you packed it for the move; and, if at all possible, carry it with you rather than shipping it.

My husband (USC) and I (Canadian citizen) had been married three years when we applied for IR-1, and four years by the time my interview rolled around. I did my interview in Montreal, as your husband likely will.

Like you, my husband and I were living together in Canada when we applied. He was going through his Canadian immigration when we purchased our home in Canada, so the home title and mortgage were solely in my name. It was not a problem when immigrating to the U.S. Likewise, by the time of my interview, my husband had already resumed domicile in the U.S. (he had to go ahead of me to start a new job). We provided utility bills with only his name on them to confirm U.S. domicile. No problem there, either.

We also had a small wedding, and that was likewise not an issue. In fact, we were only ever asked for our wedding date and place -- no other details were needed that I recall. Our wedding was in Canada.

I do think it's good to provide as much evidence as possible. But if there are no red flags in your case, a small wedding or a single name on a lease don't seem to be a problem.

I agree with previous posters: Do not lie about your reasons for coming to visit -- this can cause problems with future immigration applications. Many people are in long-distance relationships, so it is certainly possible to enter as a tourist to visit your girlfriend.

You can prove that you only intend to visit your girlfriend -- not to immigrate -- by showing that you have strong ties to your home country. Here are some documents that you can bring to show this:

- An official letter (on company letterhead) from your employer confirming that you have a permanent job

- A home mortgage, land deed and/or lease showing that you have major assets in your home country, which you are unlikely to abandon

- Documents showing any other ties which you are unlikely to abandon, such as children or ongoing schooling

I can't be 100% sure, as each case is different.  However, I was not able to get one of my vaccines due to a previous allergic reaction.  I didn't deal with it at all -- the office where I had my immigration medical done didn't even mention it to me (I had received all other vaccines at my doctor's office prior to going for my medical, and simply listed the allergy on my paperwork at the immigration medical).  It never came up at the interview.  When I received my passport after immigration approval, there was a vaccination waiver printed right on my visa.

If you're worried, you could possibly call CEAC and ask.  But it was not an issue for me.

I, too, witnessed another applicant arguing with a visa officer while I was at my interview -- it may not be allowed, but it does happen.

I agree the other posters that it sounds like your are in Administrative Processing.  That means you have been neither approved or denied at this point; they are taking extra time to consider your case.  I'm sorry that you are going through this, but try not to give up hope.  While any delay is very disheartening in this process, try to remember that a few weeks is really a drop in the bucket when you consider how long this whole process has taken.  Hopefully you will get some good news soon.

The answer is "no" -- you and your children are returning residents.

I have insurance through my husband's employer but also have the option to get insurance through my school.  I actually joined my husband's insurance prior to my immigration being approved and had surgery in the U.S. while my immigration was still pending.  My immigration status did not affect my insurance eligibility in any way, or vice versa.

As mentioned above, there are also options to purchase insurance privately, which sounds like the route you will need to take.  It is important to understand that you will be penalized on your annual income taxes if you do not have at least the minimum required insurance coverage.  And, of course, you want good insurance so you can receive proper medical care.

I agree with NikLR that insurance can get quite confusing.  That said, I find the health care here far superior to what I was receiving in Ontario, so there is a bright side to switching to U.S. medical care (in my opinion).

When enrolling in our insurance, we had to choose between three tiers of coverage.  Tier 1 was the most expensive but provided the most extensive coverage.  We opted for Tier 2, which is serving us quite well.  We have low co-pays ($30 for doctor's appointment, $10 for prescriptions, no charge for imaging, blood tests, etc.).  We also have significant coverage in the event of more serious illnesses or rehabilitation needs.

I would definitely recommend considering your future plans and outlooks when choosing insurance, as many insurance companies only allow you to change your coverage once per year (or similar).  So if you choose less-expensive health coverage and become pregnant, ill, etc., you may not be able to immediately opt-in to more comprehensive coverage.

Prospective insurance plans also come with a lot of paperwork, fine print, etc.  As tedious as it is, make sure you read and understand all of it to ensure that you have the coverage you need.

My husband accidentally threw away our original affidavit of support.  As @missileman suggested above, we simply printed a new one and dated it as the original.  We were approved without issue.

I was living in Canada when I had my police check done.  The rules for my area (and maybe all areas -- I'm not sure) stated that I had to get my check done through the police department that served my municipality, even though that was not the closest police station to my home (I lived rurally so the territories were divided up a little funny).

A non-emergency phone number for your local police station will be available via a Google search.  You can call them to find out what is required for your police check and where to get it done.  They will be aware of the different requirements for immigration police checks as opposed to checks for employment, volunteering, etc.

Paid Fee:  9/28

POE:  9/28

Card Being Produced:  10/6

Card Mailed:  10/11

Card Received:  10/13